The present invention relates to an electronic apparatus including an input unit such as a keyboard panel for introducing desired information, and a display drive system for displaying desired information such as an operation result on a television image screen of a home use television set.
Recently, there have been developed various electronic apparatuses including a digitalized control system. These electronic apparatuses perform various functions when input information and memorized programs are changed.
Meanwhile, an electronic system including a home use television set as an information display has been developed. An example is described in copending application, Readout Means of a Calculator Operatively Associated with a Home Use TV Image Screen, Ser. No. 959,603, filed Nov. 9, 1978 by Sigeaki Masuzawa and Isamu Haneda and assigned to the same assignee as the present application.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an electronic system including a home use television set as an information display unit.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an electronic apparatus including a keyboard panel for introducing desired information, a calculation circuit, and a display drive system for displaying a calculation result on a television image screen of a home use television set.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide an electronic system including a home use television set as an information display unit, wherein an input unit for introducing desired information into the electronic system is removably secured to the system for facilitating the exchange to achieve various operations.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an electronic apparatus which can perform various functions when input means and program memory means are exchanged.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an electronic apparatus which includes a read only memory cartridge exchangeably secured to the electronic apparatus.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide an electronic apparatus which includes an exchangeable read only memory cartridge for storing information related to a fixed program, and an exchangeable random access memory cartridge for storing information related to an option program written by an operator.
Other objects and further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. It should be understood, however, that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.
To achieve the above objects, pursuant to an embodiment of the present invention, a keyboard panel is constructed so as to be exchangeably connected to a control unit which includes a central processor unit responding to input information derived from the keyboard panel, and a display control system for displaying an operation result stored in the central processor unit on a television image screen of a home use television set. A memory cartridge is exchangeably secured to the control unit. The memory cartridge stores program information for conducting a desired operation by the control unit.
When the operator desires to perform a specific operation, a selected keyboard panel and a corresponding memory cartridge are associated with the control unit.
In a preferred form, a program memory is incorporated in the keyboard panel. The thus combined keyboard/program memory unit is exchangeably connected to the control unit for performing various operations. A printer unit is connected to the control unit for printing out the operation result stored in the control unit.
In another preferred form, two types of memory cartridges are provided. One is a read only memory cartridge for storing information related to a fixed program. The other is a random access memory cartridge into which a desired program sequence is written at an operator's choice. The control unit is constructed to accommodate both the read only memory cartridge and the random access memory cartridge. A detection means is provided to preclude the write-in operation when the read only memory cartridge is secured to the control unit.